Charlotte Chesnais designs her first Japanese boutique as a place of contemplation

French jewelry brand Charlotte Chesnais announces the opening of its first international boutique. It is located in the Aoyama district of Tokyo. The design of the room took three years. It marks an important step in the company’s global development.

The brand once again commissioned the Dutch architect Anne Holtrop for this new sales location. She had already worked with her on the design of her two Paris addresses. Unlike the French boutiques that emphasized recyclable acrylic, the Tokyo store favors other materials. These include cast glass, made in an art foundry in Shanghai, and silver leaf. This silver leaf was strategically placed near the windows so that it would naturally oxidize over time.

The room is intended as a place for contemplation. It will function as both a boutique and a gallery. It offers a platform to exhibit the works of artists who are close to the creative director. She gained her experience in the Balenciaga studio in the 2000s. Now she describes this retail project as a bridge between French sensibilities and Japanese minimalism.

The opening in Japan is more than just a geographical expansion of the sales network. It goes hand in hand with a further development of the commercial offer. To mark the occasion, the brand is launching an expanded high jewelry collection. The designer had previously repositioned vermeil as a durable and luxurious material. She sees this foray into high jewelry as a natural extension of her sculptural approach. “This allows for precision, intimacy and a different kind of consistency,” she explains in a statement.

This article was created in part using artificial intelligence and was edited by a FashionUnited editor before publication.